The Differences Between Overwatch and Paladins
Have you ever noticed the phenomenon in the film industry where there will
be near identical films released within close proximity of each other? Some
examples being Armageddon and Deep Impact, The Prestige and The
Illusionist, or more recently, The Jungle Book and the upcoming Jungle Book
(very confusing).
There is no real mystery behind why this happens: It is because there are
thousands of scripts flying around Hollywood, meaning studios will option
them and then sit on them before moving into potential production. However,
if they hear that a rival studio is making a similar film, perhaps even
developed from the same script, they will spin their own version into
production in order to recoup some of the expenses they paid out. They
would rather split the profits with a rival than get no profits or return
on investment at all. Thus, you may well get two similar films released in
the same time frame.
The question is, does this happen with games? Not so often, to be honest,
aside from similar games within the same genre, or games inspired by
whichever series is in vogue at the time. See the countless Dark Souls
inspired games or straight-up clones, those aping the success of DayZ
previously, and in the future I imagine we will see the same for No Man's
Sky.
The games press tried heavily to compare Battleborn and Overwatch. Aside
from a slightly similar aesthetic, they were well wide of the mark as the
two games are practically in different genres. This unfair comparison
probably helped contribute to Battleborn's subsequent failure to find a
strong audience.
Two games that better fit the comparison are in fact Overwatch and the
recently released (on Early Access) Paladins: Champions of the Realm (from
here on in referred to as Paladins).
I have spent a lot of time with Overwatch now, both pre- and post-release,
so I decided to spend some time with Paladins to see how similar they are
and if there is room for both of them to be successful.
Art
Even without booting either game, you can't fail to notice how similar in
aesthetic the two games are: Vibrant, colourful and cartoony with
characters that ooze personality, before even uttering a word. Of course,
this style is not new nor unique, it is a staple of Blizzard games and was
arguably most recently popularised by Team Fortress 2, a third game which
also shares similarities with both Overwatch and Paladins. It is a style
that looks great and is more resistant to ageing over time when compared to
more photo-realistic graphics. It also means that in most cases the games
are more accessible to a wider audience, and is a good way of making your
game both endearing and recognisable. It should be noted here that
Paladins is slightly less demanding on your PC than Overwatch.
Characters
The two games both feature pre-determined characters (or heroes) which all
fill certain roles; There is no customisation of classes here like in games
such as Battlefield or Call of Duty. The characters fill staples of
videogames such as Tank, DPS, Heal/Support. Both games rely heavily on each
team utilising these roles well and adapting to different scenarios and
needs in order to be successful.
Viktor from Paladins
In either game your team is going to falter without the right mix of
different characters, or like in most games of Overwatch I experience,
everyone can just pick a Sniper!
Gameplay
Right off the bat both games are extremely similar, as both are class-based
first person shooters, again heavily inspired by Team Fortress 2 before
them.
Both Overwatch and Paladins differ from regular first person shooters as
there is no weapon cycling or ammo pickups. Each character has a set weapon
and must rely heavily on utilising skills which are mapped to certain keys
and unique to each character for each role, and then one ultimate skill
which must be charged before being used and if executed at the right time
can be a game changer.
Overwatch's Soldier 76
There is ongoing debate as to which game was in development first but
regardless of respective timelines, the similarities between the two are
quite staggering. The only real difference between the two games is that
Paladins is a little faster paced and features some MOBA-like elements
which themselves feel lifted right out of another Blizzard game: Heroes of
the Storm.
Even if Hi-Rez Studios can make a decent claim of not copying Overwatch
, the fact remains that they are releasing second and could now be accused
of capitalising on the massive success of Overwatch. They could have
perhaps made some subtle tweaks to their characters or the game to avoid
any accusations of being a copy of Overwatch.
In conclusion, I think that both games are very good, though that could
purely be because I think Overwatch is very good.
Overwatch is not Free to Play whereas Paladins is. This means that due to
the MOBA nature of the latter game, the buying of cards and skills, that
Paladins runs the risk of becoming Pay-To-Win in the future, whereas
Overwatch will always be a more even playing field as its microtransactions
are purely cosmetic.
Overall, the decision must come down to where and when you want to spend
your money. If you can't afford the up-front cost of Overwatch, then
Paladins is a fine alternative, but if you can afford it then hands down my
recommendation is Overwatch every time.
